Mid Year Blues by Afam Akeh

Mid Year Blues

Every rain, every rain,
the water flushes the guts of Lagos
and writes a poem of pain.
Each grim sight festers in its pool
until the moments bow in shame
and the streets are floods of errors
waiting to be drained.
The feet select their steps,
recoil from mud, deny their guilt.
The eyes searching the wetness
are pregnant with the absent sun.
The nation tells her tale.
Each great wind echoes the dream
until in the drenched moments
there is a thirst for sunlight,
and in the air a lament is born
for the prosperous paths not taken.

Afam Akeh

Afam Akeh is a Nigerian writer. A graduate of the University of Ibadan. His works have won awards including the 2nd prize in the BBC Arts for Africa Competition back in 1988.

Close to You by David Diop

Close to You

Close to you I have regained my name
My name long hidden beneath the salt of distances
I have regained eyes no longer veiled by fevers
And your laugh like a flame making holes in the dark
Has given Africa back to me beyond the snows of yesterday
Ten years of my love
And mornings of illusion and wreckage of ideas
And sleep peopled with alcohol
Ten years and the breath of the world has poured its
pain upon me
Pain that loads the present with the flavor of tomorrows
And makes of love an immeasurable river
Close to you I have regained the memory of my blood
And necklaces of laughter around the days
Days that sparkle with joys renewed.

David Diop

David Mandessi Diop was born on July 9, 1927 in Bordeaux, France to a Senegalese father and a Cameroonian mother. Back to Senegal, Diop started writing at a very tender age and he was one of the most promising French West African poets known forhis contribution to the Négritude literary movement. His work reflects his hatred of colonial rulers and his hope for an independent Africa. He died in a plane crash, at the age of 33, in 1960.

Lethal Me by Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Lethal Me

A day shall come
I shall be no more
I shall sleep in peace
and wake no more
people shall call my name
but my soul and body will rise not
friends and family shall cry
I shall be buried in a lonely grave
and people shall bid me farewell
and leave me behind with my deeds
because I shall take the lonely journey alone
I shall lay in the midst of sand
my body shall be food for maggot
I will b forgotten soon
and my face shall disappear in friends mind
but my handwork shall live on
I shall meet my creator .
everyone shall die
but d almighty Allah shall remain
on his mighty throne
with his mighty crown
the fierce king shall die
the poorest man shall die
and meet their creator in d same manner
because our journeys shall end one day.

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade is a Nigerian female writer. She was born on 4th of September 1994 in Ibadan,the capital of Oyo state. She developed writing skill at a tender age and has written scores of poetry few of which are published on this website. Her works are greatly influenced by works of Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and other young writers such Rasaq Maleeq and Joseph Ibikunle.

Okigbo's Anamorphosis by Obiwu

Okigbo's Anamorphosis

I battered a king-sized cockroach
And its white blood splattered on my left big toe;
Did he who cut and crushed a young tendril
Also deny it the burial of the earth?

Who wept for the snuffed life of the cockroach, but I?
Who mourned for the forced death of the tendril, but I?
I, who am the remains of our sordid past;
I, in my piteous state;

- And the blasted stains on my foot!

Obiwu

Obiwu is a literary name for Obi Iwuanyanwu, director of the writing center at Central State University in Wilberforce,
Ohio, United States. His publications include Achebe’s Poetic Drive and The History of Nigerian Literature, 1772-2006 , both published in 2006.

War by Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

War

I can still remember
the sound of war
the panic in the voice of men
the fear that got many killed
the sound of the drum of war.

I can still remember
the sound of running horses
the sound of angry waveS
that split the moving boats
and killed many soldiers.

I can still remember
the voices of little children
that ran and pleaded for mercy
but still got killed
by the beast of men.

I can still remember
the sound of guns
and the clinging of swords
that killed and beheaded many.

I can still remember
the cry of women
who lost children
and husband
during the war.

I can still remember
a lot of faces
that floated on the river
after dying coldly
without glory or honour.

I can still remember
the fear and horrors
the bleats of goats and sheep
the claws of kitten
and d sound of angry birds
that cried in pains.

I can still remember
the voices of soldiers
that said, "all men shall die"
but they were still afraid of death
because no man is strong enough
to laugh in front of swords
and guns, the angels of death.

I can still remember
the next morning after the war
houses were still burning
with the aid of winds,
blood still flow.

I can still remember
how men were slaughtered
women and girls were raped
animals were butchered.

the survivors were left with nothing
but pains of eternity
the agony, sorrows
and tears that can't stop coming
the survivors can never
forget the sounds of that war

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade is a Nigerian female writer. She was born on 4th of September 1994 in Ibadan,the capital of Oyo state. She developed writing skill at a tender age and has written scores of poetry few of which are published on this website. Her works are greatly influenced by works of Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and other young writers such Rasaq Maleeq and Joseph Ibikunle.

Magic of Nature by Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Magic of Nature

The sun glitters
it's hotness is what people see
but it's friendly smile on earth
brightens the heart of helpless

the moon booms in the night
with brighter light
and shines on the hopeless
wandering lost sheep
it brings out the best
and leads us to good life

the stars are many
but not as bright
as the beautiful moon
but they bring hope for the future

the rain litters the land
with nourishment and blessings
that give life to the lifeless seeds and lost farmers
and cool the moment with smile.

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade is a Nigerian female writer. She was born on 4th of September 1994 in Ibadan,the capital of Oyo state. She developed writing skill at a tender age and has written scores of poetry few of which are published on this website. Her works are greatly influenced by works of Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and other young writers such Rasaq Maleeq and Joseph Ibikunle.

My Mother by Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

My Mother

she is my one in millions
a precious in place of treasures
my heart, soul and body
she is the image of the lady I am
my wonderful friend and soul mate
my mother
my comforter
my beloved
my helper
the courage that lives in me
she raised me with care and kindness
a woman with tender heart
that glows to erase doubt in my heart
she shed a billion tears to save me
and my sibling in danger
the pains you went through
the gain is my beautiful future
if I didn't sleep
she would not sleep
I'm forever indebted to you
Wen I'm in pain
we're in it together
a rare mother with caring heart
mama I will  forever be grateful and faithful to you
the only pain and fear in my heart
is that she is growing old
the only pain in my heart is death-
death which is a storm
that put grief to ship
it's a pest that destroy farmer's labour
someone said picture
can bring back memories
and I asked, if a picture can talk
or do what you are doing for me
I can't use picture to represent you in my life
it can it represents ur image not your memories.

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade

Jayeola Baliqis Lolade is a Nigerian female writer. She was born on 4th of September 1994 in Ibadan,the capital of Oyo state. She developed writing skill at a tender age and has written scores of poetry few of which are published on this website. Her works are greatly influenced by works of Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark and other young writers such Rasaq Maleeq and Joseph Ibikunle.